Planning for the Stonewylde Gathering

Monkton Wyld in Dorset – exterior and one of the rooms we’ll be using for workshops

Well the order for the T-shirts finally went off today. Why does everything get so complicated just when you can’t cope with it? I spent a lot of time working on a design, only to be told by Mr B that it was unusable. He’s now created the final design himself using computer graphics, and it looks good – simple but effective. I was also told at the last minute by the printers that we could order a variety of sizes for the same price (we’re buying the T-shirts ourselves as a gift for our loyal Stonewylders but need to keep the cost down). So last night I was frantically trying to contact people to find out which size they’d like. Aren’t we all so different? Some are small but want big and baggy. Some like to show off their assets. Some have no idea at all! But the Harvest Moon T-shirts are ordered now and if they’re wrong, it’s too late to change them.

This evening I’m meeting up with a Stonewylder to plan the workshops and market. We’re meeting at a very unusual venue and I hope to have a photo to show you tomorrow! People have offered their skills to run a variety of free workshops for the Saturday, and others are bringing their wares to sell, trade or barter with. The offers for workshops look great. We’re going to have lots of stuff like belly-dancing, drumming, folk-singing and other things that we can maybe perform in the evening at the party.

There are also talented people who can offer to teach reputable online pharmacy phentermine things like corn-dolly making, head-dresses, yoga and an introduction to tarot reading. And then we have other lovely activities such as guided meditation, sound therapy, reiki and healing. I’ve been to lots of festivals this year where people are charging a great deal of money for these type of activities; obviously they have high overheads to cover. But how wonderful that our Stonewylders are prepared to share their gifts for free!

Tonight Sujee and I have got to sort out the logistics of rooms, resources, a time-table etc. The room in the photo above is a lovely big downstairs communal room – a little short on furniture but there are cushions. I remember this room when I was on a course at Monkton Wyld many years ago in January. It was absolutely freezing!! But hopefully the beginning of September will be balmy and warm, and it would be great if we could run some of the activities outside. This is the room where I hope Sujee will teach belly-dancing, and where maybe Ebany can do his folk-singing workshop later on.

Yesterday I sent out a press-release about the Stonewylde Harvest Moon Gathering, and one of the things I said was how this may be a one-off event. We have so many new members in our online community, and lots of them are hoping to make it to the next gathering. But remembering the logistics of trying to organise this one, I do wonder what will happen in the future. Still, we can but see. It would be wonderful to have an annual event for Stonewylders. If only I owned somewhere like Port Eliot!